1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems for transmitting and receiving two-way wireless data messages. More specifically, the invention relates to wireless communications systems including cellular telephone systems, mobile radio systems, and related technology such as Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), Enhanced Specialized Mobile Radio (ESMR), Motorola Integrated Radio System (MIRS), Personal Communications Systems (PCS), satellite cellular hybrid systems, Mobile Radio (ESMR) dispatch services such as RAM Mobile Data, and ARDIS.
2. Description of Related Art
Systems and apparatuses have been proposed enabling wireless communication based on transmitted data rather than voice. Indeed, it has been suggested and speculated that we are in the midst of a revolution more realistically comparable in magnitude to personal computing than to cellular voice based communications. But much less clear is the path this revolution may take. The expressed commitment of virtually all major providers of wireless communications for business subscribers to expanding services in data messaging practically ensures that wireless data messaging will grow rapidly in coming years. But the very diversity of the proponents of wireless data messaging suggests an industry that will be fragmented at best, or choked by dissent and destructive competition at worst. The foremost cause of said dissent and fragmentation, is the lack of multi-system and inter system data communication protocol uniformity and standardization. Another major problem is the staggering cost of upgrading existing Cellular Mobile Telephone (CMT) and Enhanced Mobile Radio (ESMR), infrastructure. If system uniformity is accomplished, the result could produce a seamless, worldwide data communications network. The network envisioned could provide application specific services such as motor vehicle fleet management, motor vehicle anti-theft and recovery, shipping container tracking, railroad system management, personnel tracking and location, home arrest, public utility system management, highway call box add-on services, remote traffic signal control, security system status reporting, and a myriad of other application specific data communication services. Further, these application specific systems can be location based by integrating Global Positioning System receivers into the architecture of specially designed communication apparatus
Other location systems could be utilized and integrated into apparatuses which are directly applicable to the present inventions operational scheme. Such location apparatuses can be read from control channels, and instructed to perform certain positioning and location reporting tasks. Such tasks would be received from and transmitted back to said control channels. Other application specific service apparatus can be non-location in design and operation and provide direct communication of status, and a non-location apparatus can be instructed to perform certain tasks, over the respective control channels in use that are used in a particular communications system.
The present system and apparatuses of the present invention provide a unique and simple solution to solving Cellular Mobile Telephone (CMT) and Enhanced Mobile Radio (ESMR) infrastructure upgrade and cellular inter system compatibility problems, in terms of technical, logistical and operational issues which are significantly limiting the non-voice wireless data communications industry at present. The present invention also provides an economical and technically efficient means of delivering heretofore mentioned application specific services to the Enhanced Specialized Mobile Radio (ESMR) Industry (NEXTELL), the Motorola Integrated Radio System (MIRS), and other related systems. In fact, the method and apparatuses of the present invention provide the technical and logistical means of providing application specific services to any communications standard which operates on wireless networks or which depend upon a centralized control model, or operations based on operates centralized subscriber specific authentication, registration, and inter system control data channel architecture. In fact the present invention provides, for the first time, a system and apparatus which utilize and exploit control channel communication pathways for the purpose of directly sending and receiving data messages, and which directly communicates by radio link an entire Cellular Mobile Telephone (CMT) or Enhanced Mobile Radio (ESMR) network for the purpose of commercially operating heretofore mentioned applications for specific services that are directly controlled and communicated with on control channels that do not require any voice channel operations.
In fact, with the system and apparatus of the present invention two way data transmission can be fully accomplished without any voice channel set up or access attempted. An entire one way and two way message communicative act can be accomplished during the initialization and idle mode, as well as sending data burst over Digital Traffic Channels that take nano seconds to initialize and complete. This method can be added to existing Cellular Mobile Telephone (CMT), Enhanced Mobile Radio (ESMR) and Mobile Satellite (MS) system radio sets and entire networks. Control channel pathways and communications protocols have, up to the present time, been limited to registration, authentication, anti-fraud, internal system management roaming processes, voice encryption and other related services, and in no way have been used to communicate application specific messaging directly to Cellular Mobile Telephone (CMT) and Enhanced Mobile Radio (ESMR) communicator apparatus, or to a communicator apparatus capable of sending application specific messages to control channels by direct radio link, without specialized modems. Such control channel data management presently involves many processes such as communicator apparatus control; which includes power control, voice quality control, and control and voice channel switching. Channel switching procedures are utilized for the purpose of maintaining the strongest signal on the strongest usable control channels, digital traffic channels and voice channels, as well as other related processes.
Accordingly, it is a primary purpose of the present invention to provide a system and apparatus for the manipulation, translation and encryption of control channel data bits such as Mobile Identification Numbers (MIN), which are the ten digit thirty two bit telephone directory numbers assigned to Cellular Mobile Telephone (CMT) and Enhanced Specialized Mobile Radio (ESMR) subscriber communication units. In addition, the present invention adds multi-bit application specific messaging to the control channels of said network systems. Additional control channel data bits the present invention manipulates, translates and encrypts are Shared Secret Data, A Key Data, RandSSD data, Electronic Serial Number Data, Filler Data, Reserved Format Data, Additional Data, Digital Traffic Channel User Data and a myriad of other control channel data now being utilized by Cellular Mobile Telephone (CMT) and Enhanced Mobile Radio (ESMR) for subscriber registration, authentication, and internal system management. Furthermore, the present invention does not require prohibitively expensive Cellular Mobile Telephone (CMT) and Enhanced Mobile Radio (ESMR) infrastructure upgrades, and radio component add ons for entire aforementioned networks.
The system and apparatus of present invention require no expensive subscriber specific end user equipment, nor require specialized modems and other cumbersome and expensive interface equipment. The present invention is fully digital, but, operates on existing analog cellular, enhanced specialized radio equipment, and satellite system apparatus. This feature of the present is important, simply because all data control channels in use in the world today are digital. These control channels are routinely called Forward Analog Control Channels, Reverse Control Channels, Digital traffic Channels, which include Fast Associated Control Channels, Slow Associated Control Channels, Forward Digital Traffic Channels, Reverse Digital Traffic Channels, Primary Paging Channels, Secondary Control Channels, Secondary Paging Channels. Other cellular system control channels such as Enhanced Specialized Mobile Radio (ESMR) control and Digital Traffic channels, Motorola Integrated Radio system control channels, and other cellular telephone and radio systems rely upon control channels for internal system control and management.
It is also a purpose of the present invention to provide a system and apparatus which does not interfere, or cause any disruption in control channel processes which manage normal voice communications. The present invention is essentially transparent, regardless of what type of communications network system it is applied too.
It is a still further purpose of the present invention to provide a system and apparatus which does not interfere or disrupt normal control channel operations which were originally designed to support and manage voice communication processes only, that is, any control channel functions which are designed to manage the voice communications aspect of Cellular Mobile Telephone (CMT) or Enhanced Mobile Radio (ESMR) Mobile Satellite (MS) are not effected by the present inventions operations. In other words, all normal voice based mobile subscriber stations operate unimpeded when the present invention is installed and applied to any given cellular telephone or radio network which relies upon a centralized control system as described.
There is further a great need in wireless communication technology for a low cost data communications system and apparatus that efficiently and economically enable application specific services and apparatuses to be installed and utilized worldwide. The present invention provides, at a very low cost, an improved wireless communications specific enabling system which overcomes the many shortcomings of prior systems.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentality's and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.